Page 42 of Us Defiant Few

Lately, she’d been doing it more often.

“Serene…is something going on with you and Brock?”

Her blue eyes widened. “What do you mean? Nothing’s going on.”

Khalani fixed her with a knowing look, and Serene finally sighed.

“There’s not much to tell,” she grumbled, as if the words themselves bothered her. “After you and Takeshi left for the prison camp, he hung around more, still his annoying, self-absorbed, misogynistic self. But then, he started being…nice. He got me drinks in the morning. Waited for me to eat. Kept asking if I was okay because he could tell I was a wreck worrying about the two of you in camp.”

Khalani’s heart clenched, but Serene continued.

“And one day, he kissed me.”

“What!” She instantly straightened, ignoring the shooting pain in her shoulder.

“I know, I know!” Serene rubbed her eyes. “ But the next day, he acted like nothing happened! He’s hot one moment and cold the next.” She slunk against the wall. “That’s why I tried to make him jealous, and the fact that I’m wasting precious brain cells on him feels so stupid.”

“Stop. You’re not stupid,” Khalani insisted. “If he’s too dumb to see how amazing you are, then I’ll kiss you to make him jealous.”

“Yeah, right.” Serene laughed. “Takeshi would blow a lid. I wouldn’t be surprised if you guys did it in that camp.”

She felt her cheeks redden, and Serene’s mouth popped open. “You didn’t!”

“We did…some things. But we didn’t do everything.” Khalani’s gaze drifted down to the sheets, and she picked her fingers, barely holding herself together. “I wanted to. But what’s sad is that I’m glad we didn’t, because he wouldn’t have even remembered.”

Her chin trembled, and Serene’s arms carefully wound around her, avoiding her injured shoulder. “Hey, hey. We’re going to get him back.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you’re not in this alone. And neither is Takeshi. But if he hurts you again, memory or not, I’m going to cut off his balls and gift them to you out of sisterly affection.”

Khalani’s pained shoulder shook with laughter as she hugged Serene tighter. “You’re kinda scary when you’re mad.”

“I know.” Serene grinned. “And if Brock isn’t careful, I’ll put his in a bag next to Takeshi’s.”

* * *

Two weeks passed.

The only word they received from Jack was that the streets were still too hot and they needed to remain in hiding.

Every day, they trained in the basement. Well, Khalani mostly watched since her shoulder was wrapped in a sling, but that morning, Lane finally removed the white wrap.

Raziel joined them for most sessions. But Takeshi never did.

He isolated himself in his room, and Khalani never saw him. It felt intentional, like he purposely waited to grab food or take a shower until she wasn’t around. One day, she watched his door for hours, but he never came out.

The restlessness and paranoia finally came to an end when Raziel announced they were skipping training to attend an emergency meeting with the Aces. They practically raced upstairs to the communal area.

But Khalani’s legs faltered at the sight that greeted them.

The usual dining area had been rearranged. A single long table stretched across the room. Jack sat at the head, with Jericho to his left and Spade to his right. Other Aces filled the remaining seats, including Ryder, who looked paler than usual, but appeared to have fully recovered from the gunshot wound.

Everyone’s expressions were carefully guarded as Khalani and her group sat down. But she gripped the side of her chair when Takeshi appeared around the corner.

His black gear hugged his muscles like second skin. His eyes held a rough, vicious edge, and his hair was wet, like he’d just left the shower.

She noticed some of the female Aces stealing glances at him. Khalani didn’t blame them. It was hard not to be stunned by Takeshi’s raw beauty.